10 Writing Courses for Professionals
We’ve created a list of the most recommended writing courses for professionals to help all types of writers – including aspiring ones – unleash their writing talents and drastically improve their craft. Some courses will teach how to frame and structure articles, select clear and concise words, refresh knowledge of grammar and punctuation, revising, and more. Read on to learn more.
1. The 5 C's of Writing News for Mobile Audiences
Truth be told, mobile audiences scan news and interact with the content differently. And with such a short attention span, keeping them engaged in mobile news is particularly tricky and challenging. If you’ve never written for mobile before, you can turn to SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s writing course for professionals, The 5 C's of Writing News for Mobile Audiences, to gain a sound knowledge of this skill. Here, you'll discover the fundamentals of writing news that generates optimum engagement and consistent visits from your mobile audiences. You'll also learn how to frame your articles using “5 Cs” of effective writing – conversational, considerate, concise, contextual, and chunky. This course will also walk you through the process of revision and selecting the right set of words, as well as structuring pithy headlines and easy-to-digest content that will resonate well with your mobile readers.
Based on a microlearning design model, this free elearning resource is short, which you can complete in just a few minutes. There’s no registration fee needed – all you need to do is create a free account with SC Training (formerly EdApp).
Cost: Free (up to 10 users)
Scope: 5 Cs of effective writing – conversational, considerate, concise, contextual and chunky, mobile news word options, mobile news structure, writing process
Created by SC Training (formerly EdApp)
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2. Effective E-mail Communication
Email is considered the primary channel for business communication. This is why, in the corporate world, effective email composing, writing, and communication is regarded as a highly-prized technical skill. Learn how to write clear, courteous, and considerate emails and boost your email writing skills with the help of SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s Effective E-mail Communication. Divided into 5-part, this writing course for professionals explores the 5Ws and 1H of effective email communication. Some of the topics covered include the benefits of effective email communication and parts of an email message and address. It also examines some professional tips on organizing and writing emails, which can significantly help you improve your relationship with your employer, colleagues, and customers. But that's not all — you'll also learn the basic 7Cs of effective email writing that will help get your message noticed and acted upon.
Similar to other SC Training (formerly EdApp) training materials, this course is accessible through smartphones and tablets. You and your colleagues can take this course anytime and anywhere to your best convenience, whether you’re having a quick coffee or mid-afternoon break.
Cost: Free (up to 10 users)
Scope: Why, What, When, Who, and How of Effective E-mail Communication, tips on organizing and writing emails, 7Cs of effective email writing
Created by SC Training (formerly EdApp)
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3. Writing Better Business Emails
You can also enroll in this SkillPath’s writing course for professionals to learn some tips and shortcuts for writing better business emails and effective business writing, so you can grow and become a more effective communicator in your field. In this course, you will learn the mechanics of writing emails, from identifying your audience and the purpose of your email to choosing the right communication style that matches the purpose of your message. To ensure professional, error-free email writing, it will also refresh your knowledge of grammar and punctuation and guide you through the proofreading process. This course can be delivered in a variety of training modalities that can be customized to your needs.
Cost: Available upon request
Scope: Mechanics of writing emails, establishing the right communication style, finding the writing purpose, basic grammar and punctuation refresher, proofreading process
Created by SkillPath
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4. The Language of Leaders: Learn to Write with Confidence
Leaders and managers looking for some resources that will help boost their writing confidence can count on this writing course and its writing exercises for professionals by edX. The content of this training will be presented for four weeks, with the first week focusing on the importance of leadership writing and how it differs from other types of writing. For the succeeding weeks, you will get to know a variety of writing tools and techniques that will help improve the way you write and present your ideas and messages as a leader. Common errors in business writing will be discussed as well, alongside some tips to avoid them. This course is free, but it will only be accessible for a certain period. For unlimited access with the additional benefit of a shareable course certificate, edX offers an optional upgrade at $149 USD.
Cost: Free; Optional upgrade at $149 USD
Scope: Importance of leadership writing, leadership writing tools and techniques, common errors in business writing
Created by edX
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5. Business Writing
Coursera’s Business Writing is another recommended writing course for professionals designed to help new and existing professionals become effective and credible business writers and communicators. This course delves into simple writing principles of good business writing and specific techniques on how to apply them to writing tasks. It also goes through the formula for writing success, which you can use as a checklist, outline, or writing guide for writing effective sentences in the future. Common grammatical errors and writing issues will be addressed as well, and how you can correct your writing even if you don’t remember all the grammar rules.
This course is entirely online and can be completed at your leisure. Just a quick heads up — you'll need to set aside at least 12 hours to complete this program.
Cost: Free for only 7 days
Scope: Writing principles of good business writing, the formula for writing success, common grammatical errors
Created by Coursera
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6. Technical Report Writing Course
Reports present relevant, validated data, which makes them the lifeblood of every business decision-making. For this reason, technical report writing is usually dreaded by some professionals. To save you some time and frustration for this task, Instructional Solutions has put together its writing course, Technical Report Writing, providing you with some tricks on how to write technical reports and present complex information effectively. At the end of this technical writing training course, you will be able to plan, write, and edit complex, technical information in an absorbed format and sentence structure and ensure that your report conveys all the details that your team needs to make an effective decision. You will also learn how to eliminate information dumping and deliver your reports in a way that will be easily understood by your readers.
This course includes a series of lectures followed by some activities that will allow you to plan and write your actual work report while applying all of the strategies you've learned so far. A certificate will be provided upon successful completion of this course.
Cost: 895 USD
Scope: Efficient process for writing technical reports, steps to present complex information, eliminating information dumping, presenting reports in an absorbed format
Created by Instructional Solutions
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7. Business Website Writing
Professional Writing Academy created this writing course to help professionals and content writers in creating customer-friendly web content. Here, you’ll learn how to choose the correct keywords, develop a writing style, and use simple grammar, ensuring that your website's content and company message are clear and authentic. You will also discover strategies and persuasive techniques used by professional website-content writers, which you can adopt to improve the look and personality of your site and ensure a platform that you’re proud to share with your target audience.
This course can be taken in either a Hare or a Tortoise format. The Hare format will last for four intense weeks, ideal for super-driven business owners who want to get a lot of training in a short amount of time. The Tortoise format, on the other hand, will run for over three months, perfect for super-busy learners. Like the race, the content for both formats is exactly the same.
Cost: £540
Scope: Identifying website keywords, developing a writing style, recommended grammar use, website content writing strategies and techniques
Created by Professional Writing Academy
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8. Effective Writing for Professionals
This course from Thomson Reuters Foundation centers on basic writing skills and strategies that will help you create punchy and compelling content. Among the topics covered in this course include the three golden rules of effective writing and the systematic approach to planning, writing, and editing excellent emails, letters, and reports. You'll also learn how to write in an engaging, easy-to-understand style that better addresses the reader's needs and expectations. This course will also give you a quick refresher on using punctuation, sentences, and paragraphs, as well as guide you through the right editing and proofreading process, ensuring a higher quality of content. This course can be taken by anyone who wishes to ace their reports, white papers, letters, or marketing copy and make a professional impact in their respective industry.
Cost: Available upon request
Scope: Three golden rules of effective writing, a systematic approach to planning, writing, editing, using punctuations and constructing sentences and paragraphs, editing and proofreading
Created by Thomson Reuters Foundation
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9. Professional Writing - Write with Confidence
SkillShare’s Professional Writing - Write with Confidence unlocks the key principles and essential strategies for professional writing, which will help increase your confidence not only in writing but also in communicating with your audience. But apart from its remarkable writing tips, this course will also help you understand the common types of tone in writing, particularly passive and active voice, and how your choice of tone can impact your brand. The do’s and don’t of professional writing will be explored as well, like the use of humor, emotions, and opinions, and a list of persuasive words that you can adopt to sell your brand better. This class comes with 14 short video clips that you can watch either using your desktop or mobile phone through the SkillShare app.
Cost: Free for 7 days
Scope: Key principles of professional writing, writing tones, writing tips, persuasive word choice
Created by SkillShare
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10. Introduction To Technical Writing Training
Learning Tree’s technical writing training course is primarily focused on helping professionals create technical manuals and white papers that readers will find easy to follow and understand. This course will walk you through the complete process of planning and writing sentences and sections, and editing technical documents to guarantee your writing clarity and accuracy. You will also learn how to leverage diagrams, tables, and more graphical elements to express your ideas more effectively. This course is delivered in an instructor-led format, with the benefit of one-on-one instructor coaching after completion. Unfortunately, this course is not meant for self-paced learning and can be fairly costly.
Cost: 2990 USD
Scope: The planning, writing, and editing process, structuring information for clarity and readability, designing documents with graphical elements
Created by Learning Tree
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Needless to say, people with advanced writing skills are treated with higher credibility in almost any industry. Having been able to confidently express their message, they are perceived as highly dependable in their field. But, similar to other technical skills, writing can be quite difficult to master. If you feel writing to be a little intimidating and challenging, the internet, fortunately, has made it possible to find an array of writing courses for professionals that can help you write higher quality content and hone further your craft. Whether you’re an aspiring professional writer seeking to tone up your creative writing, journalism, or business writing skills or an experienced writer aiming to charge up your writing career ladder, you can count on the online courses we’ve listed above. These training programs will help you improve your writing and rhetoric, as well as equip you with some essential writing tips and strategies that can help you become the better and more confident writer you aspire to be. Make sure to examine each writing course in detail to find the best one that fits your learning needs and preferences.